Lethargic Wage Growth Recalls the Painful Post-2008 Job Market

The latest US jobs report showed an unexpected (and slightly overstated) 23,000 drop in nonfarm payrolls, as well as large negative revisions to previous months’ data. Yet the real cause for concern is what’s transpired in workers’ hourly earnings: They’re not growing fast enough to keep pace with inflation, and the lost purchasing power will land like one more punch to the gut for workers.